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Top Republicans Break With Trump On Spy Claim; Polls: Trump Extremely Popular Among Republicans; Johnson Convicted Of Nonviolent Drug Offenses Out Of Prison; Stormy Daniels Sues Ex-Attorney And Michael Cohen; Trump Praises Cabinet But Not Jeff Sessions; Giuliani: Kim Begged For Summit To Be Rescheduled; Death Tolls Climbs To 99 In Guatemala. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 07, 2018 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, two more senior Republicans break with the president knocking down Donald Trump's conspiracy theory about an FBI spy planted in his campaign.

Digging through ash to find survivors, a frantic search for the missing as the death toll rises after a massive volcanic eruption in Guatemala.

And our oceans polluted with plastic, chemicals and now, prescription drugs, an alarming discovery in shell fish in the Pacific.

Hello. Welcome to our viewers all around the world. Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

Two senior Republicans have disputed Donald Trump's claim that the FBI planted a spy in his campaign. House Speaker Paul Ryan says he agrees with House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy and his assessment the FBI did exactly what it should have done in handling a confidential source and Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr also agreed casting further doubt on what the president has dubbed "Spygate," but Ryan says he still wants more information.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you agree with Trey Gowdy?

REPRESENTATIVE PAUL RYAN (R-WI), HOUSE SPEAKER: Normally, I don't like to comment on classified briefings. Let me say it this way, I think Chairman Gowdy's initial assessment is accurate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Here with me now in Los Angeles, the president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University, Michael Genovese, and in New York, CNN's legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, Michael Zeldin. Michael Z., it was hardly a stream rebuke from the speaker and also from Senator Burk. They seemed to say what was the absolute minimum, but is there a bigger legal significance to what they've said?

MICHAEL ZELDIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, in many respects, yes, it's a significant event when two speakers who have not really been critics of the president say this notion of a Spygate is fictional and there's nothing really there, yet, at the same time, it's being reported now the DOJ is going to provide additional classified documents to Congress to look at.

So, clearly, they are not dropping the notion altogether. So, you know, it's one sort of small step for a man, but for mankind we're still, you know, sort of locked in this battle between Congress and the Justice Department for Congress wanting to see documents that they really have no business looking into.

VAUSE: And Michael G., what we're hearing from Ryan, Burr, and Gowdy, these three men, they all have one thing in common, they're all retiring. They are not going to stand for reelection. We're also seeing Republicans in the Senate starting to push back against the president on a number of issues.

It's a very different story, though, in the House. I'm wondering if this is why a Gallup poll out shows that President Trump second only to George W. Bush when it comes to party approval.

It is a staggering number considering, you know, 500 days into the Bush presidency, I think was after 9/11, and so the country was rallying around him. So, in other words, Republicans love Donald Trump and that's why so many Republicans aren't prepared to go up against him.

MICHAEL GENOVESE, PRESIDENT, GLOBAL POLICY INSTITUTE, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: And that's a surprise given where we started. There were so many establishment Republicans who are not on board, refusing to get on board, who finally came home and got on board with Trump.

They are getting a lot of what they want policy wise, but they also have to defend Trump the person and he is playing this kind of shell game with the American public and we fall for it.

He's an unorthodox president, and I guess, the theory of presidential power is the kind of nothing up my sleeve theory of governing. It's so entertaining we so enjoy it that we don't see our pocket getting picked.

And the Republican Party is so enamored by this guy because he is entertaining. He is a figure of interest and --

VAUSE: Sticking it to the media or the Democrats day in and day out, and that's what -- you know, a lot of people in the Republican Party love that.

GENOVESE: His enemies are their enemies. VAUSE: Let's listen to exactly what Trey Gowdy said about the investigation and about the so-called spy. This is what he said to Fox News, I think about two weeks ago now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I am even more convinced that FBI did exactly what my fellow citizens would want them to do when they got the information they got and that it has nothing to do with Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And this is a reminder of exactly what the president has been saying about the informant in the Trump campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: All you have to do is look at the basics and you'll see. It looks like a very serious event, but we'll find out. I hope it's not true, but it looks like it is.

[00:05:03] So, how do you like the fact they had people infiltrating our campaign? Can you imagine? Can you imagine?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Michael Z., to you, given the president has access to the same information, possibly more information, as Ryan, Gowdy, and Burr, is there any logical rational way he could reach such a different conclusion?

ZELDIN: Yes, because he has a political outcome that he wants to achieve. This is not about law and whether or not there was actually an impropriety by the FBI with respect to the Trump campaign.

This is a political campaign that the White House and its allies are running with respect to an effort to undermine the credibility of the FBI and Mueller and the Justice Department.

So, that if at the end of the Mueller investigation, there's a report that's critical of them, they will say, sure, of course, we've been telling you all this time that these are unfair, biased, Democratic prosecutors, who were out to get us from the outset so discount the findings that they make. That's what this is about, nothing more, nothing less in my estimation.

VAUSE: And Michael G., to you, this seems to be further proof of what we have already heard from Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, in the Russia probe that they don't really have a legal strategy here, they have a PR strategy.

GENOVESE: Right. If you've got the law on your side, you follow the law. If you have evidence on your side, you follow the evidence. If you have neither of those, smoke and mirrors. They're banging the table.

That's what they're doing, and his base loves it. His base supports him for it, and he may not be convincing to 60 percent of the American public, but he's not worried about that 60 percent. He needs his base. He's got his base. The Republicans are on his side, and so he probably feels that this is a successful strategy.

VAUSE: Yes, and part of that fiasco seems to be the president's unrestrained use of his power of clemency on Wednesday 63-year-old Alice Marie Johnson was released from the prison in Alabama to a marginal family reunion.

She'd served 21 years of a life sentence for first time non-violent drug offenses and her sentence was commuted by the president. That came after the reality tv star, Kim Kardashian pleaded her case during a visit to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALICE MARIE JOHNSON, GRANTED CLEMENCY BY PRESIDENT TRUMP: I want to thank Kim. Thank you, thank you, Kim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: This is the sixth time the president has used his clemency powers and as Jeremy Diamond reports it's not going to be his last.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Alice Johnson, a 63-year- old woman is now out of prison after President Trump commuted her life sentence in prison. Johnson was convicted more than 20 years ago of attempted possession of cocaine and conspiracy to possess cocaine, and she was sentenced to life in prison.

But that is no more as President Trump is increasingly turning to his power to pardon, issuing what was now his sixth act of clemency as president. The five others were pardons and several of those were issued for political allies including the conservative author and filmmaker, Dinesh D'Souza, the Arizona sheriff, Joe Arpaio, with hardline views on immigration.

But the president is looking to do more of these types of acts. We are told that the president has identified at least 30 individuals for whom he's considering pardons or commutations.

I've also been told by a source familiar with the matter that a handful of individuals are having their cases reviewed right now by the White House Counsel's Office and those individuals would be similar to Alice Johnson, nonpolitical types, noncelebrities, folks who are likely first-time nonviolent offenders.

But clearly the president is finding a way to exercise the one power that really has no checks on it, and that is his power to pardon. Jeremy Diamond, CNN at the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Back now to Michael Genovese and Michael Zeldin. So, Michael Z., is this how the pardon power is meant to be used by a U.S. president?

ZELDIN: Well, so, let's be clear. This was not a pardon, this was a commuting of her sentence, clemency. So, what it means is she's still a convicted felon, but she doesn't need to serve the rest of her time in jail.

I think that the use of the clemency powers of the president are important, and that especially is important in cases like Ms. Johnson, who are people who were sentenced under the old sentencing guidelines that had these horrible draconian sentences built into them which were not made retroactive in their leniency when the Supreme Court ruled them sort inappropriate as a mandatory matter.

And you know, good for her, but there are many, many more people who are similarly situated. And so really what the White House has to do, in coordination with the Justice Department is to continue the Obama clemency program that was started in 2014.

[00:10:08] And review on a broad level all the similarly-situated convicts so that they can be released from prison under appropriate guidelines, not just if you happen to catch attention of reality star like the Kardashians.

VAUSE: I guess, it's incredibly random. Michael G., the powers of the presidency were intended to be fairly weak. The president can't declare war, propose a bill, raise taxes. He's supposed to be able to negotiate and deal with these branches of government. That's not Donald Trump's style.

But he likes his power of clemency to pardon or commute sentences because he clicks his fingers and so it is done. And that suits his style of doing business, right, so that's why one reason, at least why, he's so into these pardons.

GENOVESE: And it's not just Donald Trump, all presidents find that their hands are tied in so many ways that they gravitate towards foreign policy where they have more influence in the case of Trump, the pardon power.

And when you think about it, when Kanye West and Kim Kardashian have more access and influence on the president then does the president's climate scientists, that is either the third or fourth sign of the apocalypse.

But it's also a very cynical step for the president to -- if he's handing out pardons like candy to his friends and supporters. That's a very cynical act. It was designed for mercy, right a wrong, to calm public fears. Now he's using it as a political tool. It is unusual.

VAUSE: It's also random. It's unpredictable. You know, there's no sort of way that people know exactly what the parameters are here. OK, there seems to be more legal trouble for the president's personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, and possibly Donald Trump as well.

The adult film star, Stormy Daniels is suing Cohen and her original lawyer a man called Keith Davidson. He negotiated the $100,000 hush money payout. Daniels claims the pair were colluding to help Donald Trump.

Part of the case involved text messages between the two lawyers who were finding Daniels to appear on Fox News with Sean Hannity to deny her alleged affair with Donald Trump. Cohen allegedly say, "Keith, the wise men all believe the story is dying and don't think it's smart for her to do any interviews. Let her to do the thing but no interviews at all with anyone."

Less than a minute later, Davidson responds 100 percent Cohen texts back, thanks, pal. Michael Z., if these allegations are true, and they are allegations, a spokesman for Davidson has told reporters the suit is outrageously frivolous, but if it's true, what laws could be broken and what does this mean especially for Cohen?

ZELDIN: Well, these are things that usually are handles as a matter of a bar complaint. If one feels that their lawyer was not acting in their interest 100 percent, they were not fulfilling their judiciary duties, normally you file a complaint with the state bar and say this is the situation and the state bar makes a remedial determination about what should be the response to it.

It's not usually sort of a collusion lawsuit like has been filed here. But if the allegation is such that Davidson and Cohen colluded in some way to violate Stormy Daniels's right to representation on behalf of an undisclosed benefactor, the president of the United States.

Then the claim here is for, you know, essentially breach of fiduciary duty and a desire for monetary compensation as a consequence of that, you know, in sort of collusive deal. It's not clear from the papers which side is correct here. It's something that will go forward, and a judge ultimately will make a decision.

VAUSE: Michael G., the wisemen referred to in the text, apparently, Donald Trump, that's yet to be proved. But there is this drip by drip it seems we're finding out slowly that Donald Trump, if this is true, had a lot more to do with the Stormy Daniels saga than he's admitting.

GENOVESE: And when you look at the cast of characters, these guys are such bad criminals. They're like third rate mob rejects. I think part of it is when you have Frado trying to do things the expert is supposed to do, they'll gum up the works.

John dean in his book on Watergate said he went to the president at one point and said, Mr. Nixon, we are asking people to do things that they're not trained to do. We are not trained to be break-in artists.

These folks are not trained to be corrupt in that way. To say Cohen and the Trump team are corrupt is like saying that the Pacific Ocean is moist. These folks are mired in this and they seem to think the president will bail them out. Maybe with a pardon, maybe he'll get away with it, who knows? VAUSE: We'll finish with the first lady who had her first public appearance on Wednesday. She accompanied the president to a meeting with emergency managers at what known as FEMA. There Donald Trump handed out glowing praise for member after member of his cabinet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:15:11] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Secretary Mike Pompeo, what a job you've done, and we appreciate it. The whole country appreciates it. Secretary Ryan Zeki, great job you're doing. Secretary Ben Carson, what you're doing is great, Ben. It's really inspirational.

Elaine Chao, Secretary, all you do is produce. You do it in a very quiet way and so effective and so incredible. Secretary Neilsen, what do I say about you? You are doing great.

General John Kelly, good general. Great job, John. Administrator Scott Pruitt, thank you, Scott, very much. (Inaudible) really, really well, and you know, somebody has to say that about you a little bit. A friend of mine for a long time, Administration Linda McMann, one of the real stars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It doesn't stop. Everyone was gushed over. Everyone that is except for one person.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Attorney General Jeff Sessions, thank you, Jeff. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Michael G., never before has a thank you said so much.

GENOVESE: Ouch. You're great, you're great. You happen to be here.

VAUSE: By the way, thanks for turning up.

GENOVESE: Either fire him or leave him alone. This bullying and the constant public picking at him, it's small and petty and it's not necessary. You either have to get rid of him or leave alone. He's actually done the job the president wants in almost every respect, except the recusal. And so, you know --

VAUSE: Or stopping the Russian investigation.

GENOVESE: Leave the man alone or get rid of him.

VAUSE: And what was known for is that, you know, the gushing praise to Scott Pruitt, the director of the EPA despite a number of investigations, which now are under way, 13 in all into Pruitt including the inspector general's probe into his travel, security detail, $50 a night for use, sweetheart deal room at the home of a lobbying, a meeting he had with the National Mining Association.

The White House is looking at Pruitt's purchase of a $43,000 phone booth. The House Oversight Committee is looking at his travel expenses, as well as also that $50 a night deal for a room he had.

So, Michael Zeldin, to you, Pruitt could be cleared of any wrong doing, we should say that, but despite 13 investigations ongoing, it does seem to be an extraordinary long list, which continues to grow and there seems to be an extraordinary lack of enthusiasm from the White House to find out exactly what's going on.

ZELDIN: It's because they like his policies. He's dismantling the environmental protection agency and he's receiving kudos from industry lobbyists, who have supported those policies and President Trump.

So, they are, you know, in this difficult situation of a guy, who is accused of many ethical short comings or failings and one who's following the policies that the administration wants followed.

And so, if they get rid of him on ethical grounds, they have to deal with the fact that their policy positions, you know, the supporters of their policy positions won't be happy. So, they're picking policy over ethics, which I think, of course, is expected but unseemly.

VAUSE: OK, and that seems to be a good point to leave everything. Michael Zeldin and Michael Genovese, great to have you both with us. Thank you so much.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in Washington and will meet with President Trump in the coming hours. He wants to coordinate with the White House on issues, which are important to Japan ahead of the U.S. and North Korea summit next week.

In particular, Japanese citizens kidnapped by the North. Both men are to travel to Canada for the G7 summit which starts on Friday.

Let's head over to CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, live in Seoul, South Korea. As for that on-again/off-again summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un, we're now hearing from Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, that the North Korean leader begged Trump to keep the summit on the calendar. This is what Giuliani said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: Well, somehow North Korea, after he cancelled the summit because they insulted the vice president, they insulted the -- his national security advisor, and they also said they were going to go to nuclear war against us. They were going to defeat us in a nuclear war. He said, we're not going to have a summit under those circumstances. Well, Kim Jong-un got back on his hands and knees and begged for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, Nic, we don't know if that is actually an accurate version of what happened. But regardless, now that it's out and public, given how much the North Koreans revered the Kim family, how will this go down in Pyongyang and could there be complications from this?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's easy to see how this could go down very negatively in Pyongyang. What Giuliani went on to say was about Kim Jong-un was that coming back on his hands and knees is precisely where you want him to be, in the position of a supplicant coming into the talks in a position of weakness.

[00:20:10] This is something that Kim Jong-un will absolutely undoubtedly reject whether he chooses to do that publicly, which could potentially (inaudible) the talks again. I mean, we see just a week or so ago it was John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser raising the Libya option that brought about the spat that led to President Trump saying that he would not hold the summit.

And then the letter that came back from the North Korean side, from the vice foreign minister said we're ready to continue the talks. We like that this president has been open minded. So, Rudy Giuliani's characterization of the back a forth also seems to be not tied precisely to the details, at least as we know them publicly -- John.

VAUSE: We also have the U.S. president apparently thinking beyond this summit in Singapore to a second meeting with Kim Jong-un. The "Daily Beast" is reporting that according to two administration officials Trump has also raised the possibility of a leisurely activity and perhaps getting in 18 holes with Kim if the two end up getting along.

He's also discussed possibly golfing with Kim, a senior Trump administration official said, that's according to the "Daily Beast." Do we know if the North Korean leader plays golf? His father apparently hit 18 holes in one on his first time out on the golf course.

ROBERTSON: We know his father and grandfather were revered as being a god apparently within those feats, come spectacular rounds of golf. At the moment as we understand Kim Jong-un doesn't play golf. He may have kept this talent quiet, but President Trump's testing of an opponent, somebody who he wants to strike a deal with on the golf course, if the balance of the level of play wasn't fair, that could also go horribly wrong as well. If they get that game of golf, you have think that Kim hopes he can emulate his father.

VAUSE: Because Donald Trump isn't going to easy. He plays to win. And apparently, he even cheats so they say. Nic, thank you. Nic Robertson live for us there in Seoul.

We'll take a short break. When we come back, Guatemala's Fuego Volcano continuous its deadly rampage. Nearly 100 people are now known to be killed. Many more remain missing. We will take you there when we come back.

And the lava flow from Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano are showing no signs of slowing up. It's literally wiped a 400-year-old lake off the map.

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VAUSE: Grim news to report from Guatemala, the death toll from the Fuego Volcano has risen, 99 people are known to have died in the eruption. CNN's Patrick Oppmann takes us inside the devastation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Guatemalan police have let us into one of the hardest hit areas. Let me just show you some of the incredible scenes that we are seeing here. It really just takes your breath away.

The idea that this volcano behind is the Fuego Volcano, when it erupted as far away as we are standing it sent such a powerful river of ash and lava and super-heated mud that it picked up cars and it flung them.

There are cars down the road that we saw. Their wheels have melted that even as people were trying to flee and take all their belongings with them, that they could not drive because the wheels have completely melted into the ground and those cars then caught on fire.

Homes are burned on both sides of what used to be a street here. Now it is just a pile of ash. We've actually been cautioned to be careful where we're walking because some of this ash is still very hot.

We've talked to one rescue worker and he said that his boots actually began to melt yesterday when veered off a little bit. So, while rescue workers are back here, they are keeping a very close eye on that volcano.

It is putting out smoke this morning. It's still a very dangerous situation. We asked us to park our cars facing downhill in case we have to evacuate. While they're here, trying to find survivors and bodies of victims, they're also keeping an eye on the volcano, which could blow again at any minute. Patrick Oppmann near (inaudible), Guatemala, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And a large plume of ash has come from Kilauea Volcano erupting 3 kilometers into the sky. Meanwhile, lava continues on a relentless and destructive path which includes boiling dry the largest fresh water lake in Hawaii. Green Lake was 400 years old. And these pictures reveal the devastation to a residential area from a fast- moving lava, which laid waste to hundreds of homes, as it moves towards the ocean. And no sign of it stopping any time soon.

Still to come here on NEWSROOM LA, the opioid crisis in the U.S. now spreading to the ocean, shell fish in Washington State are testing positive for prescription pain killers and other chemicals. We'll talk to the scientist who made that discovery.

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[00:30:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN HOST: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN Newsroom live from Los Angeles. I am John Vause with the headlines this hour. The European Union has announced more than $3 billion in tariffs on American products, retaliation for U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Among the items on the list, denim, orange juice, (INAUDIBLE), motorcycles, peanut butter, motor boats and cigarettes. These tariffs are to take effect next month. At least 99 people have been confirmed dead after the Fuego volcano in Guatemala erupted and just as many are still missing. The rescue effort continues as the missing are, supposedly (ph), buried beneath the ash and debris.

A huge blaze tore across the roof of a London hotel in the at work (ph) Knightsbridge district. Nearly 300 people were evacuated from the Mandarin Oriental. No one was hurt, but just days ago, the hotel announced, it had just completed its multimillion dollar renovation.

And designer Kate Spade's husband is speaking out about his wife's apparent suicide. Andy Spade says she suffered from depression and anxiety for years and was receiving treatment. He says his priority now is their teenage daughter and helping her through the pain of losing her mother.

This Friday is World Oceans Day and it will be marked (ph) with the world's oceans choked with plastics and dangerous chemicals and, now, opioids as well. Scientists in Washington State found measurable traces of Oxycodone and other prescription drugs in the Mussels of Puget Sound.

They say the presence of opioids is an indication of just how many people around that area are actually taking that medication. Jennifer Lanksbury is a biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. She led the team which made that discovery, Jennifer, thanks for being with us.

You know, it's an incredible report and what you say in is that this is the first time that opioids have been discovered in local shellfish. The contaminants, in this case, are thought to be passed into Puget Sound through discharge from wastewater treatment plants, even filtered waste water can, potentially, include traces of thousands of chemicals. So, in other words, what we're looking at here is the mussels are getting these drugs by feeding on human sewage?

JENNIFER LANKSBURY, BIOLOGIST, WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE: Well, you know, mussels are filter feeders, so they're - they're basically like little aquatic vacuum cleaners. And, you know, in the clean areas of Puget Sound, they're filtering food and, you know, plankton and organic debris out of the water, but in these urban environments around Seattle and some of the other areas, those - that food - those food particles include some contamination.

So, they are getting some contaminants in those really urban areas of Puget Sound, and it's likely coming from waste water, also storm water is a source of pollution in the Puget Sound. We have some, you know, other localized sources of pollution, boats and industrial inputs as well.

[00:35:00]

So, there's a number of sources in the Puget Sound. They're mostly, though, restricted to those highly urban environments where there are a lot of people.

VAUSE: You know, it's a stunning headline to this report. And when you refer to Oxycodone, that's basically the same medication as Oxycontin which is a better known brand, I guess, for many people. So, what's the bigger concern here, we've got the shear amounts of opioids being consumed in the region as an indication of just how bad this drug crisis is? Or is it (INAUDIBLE) trace that are actually being found in - in the sea life there and the impact it's having on the sea life?

LANKSBURY: Well, of course, we're all concerned with the opioid crisis in the U.S. and that, you know, it's definitely a problem and we're seeing, as you said, some traces of Oxycodone in mussels. But it's really - we've only detected it in three locations in Puget Sound in Seattle and across the Sound in Bremerton.

And the doses that we're seeing in mussels are really, really low. You know, about 500 times lower than you would see in a human dose. You'd have to eat about 150 pounds of mussels to even get a minimal dose. But the fact that we're finding in the mussels means that it's in the water here. And that means that the other fish and shellfish in the Puget Sound are being exposed to it and that can be a concern.

We don't know what affect Oxycodone is, necessarily, having on mussels, but we're seeing - we're seeing with our juvenile Chinook salmon in Puget Sound. We're worried about their survival. It's a listed species and we know that they're also being exposed to the same waters of these urban environments. So, it's a concern for all of the fish and shellfish in those urban locations.

VAUSE: You also found traces of a whole lot of other chemicals and drugs, including Mephalan which is used in chemotherapy, antidepressants, antibiotics. By themselves individually, the presence of these chemicals and drugs, it's a concern. But when there is this, kind of, cocktail of toxins, is it known how they interact with each other, what impact they have? Is there a multiplier effect here?

LANKSBURY: Right, some of these chemicals can have a synergistic or multiplicative affects. You know, we are seeing a lot of these other chemicals, as you mention, antibiotics, antidepressants. We found heart medications, anti-diabetic drugs and then Mephalan.

We're not sure what kind of effects these are, necessarily, having on the shellfish, but we found some of these same chemicals in urban, as I said, juvenile Chinook salmon from these urban locations. And some of those medications, the antidepressants, some of the heart medications, we found tissue levels high enough where we may to start to see adverse impact. And so, we're concerned about some of those young fish in the really urban environments of Puget Sound, not so much in the other areas. We're not finding them in the rural locations. It's where the people are, where we see these - the big cities.

VAUSE: And you point out, the traces of opioids were found a long way from commercial shellfish beds.

LANKSBURGY: Right.

VAUSE: But right now, are there plans to try and monitor the situation to see if the problem gets worse over time or, you know...

LANKSBURG: Right.

VAUSE: ...unlikely that the fish may be eating (ph) better over time?

LANKSBURG: Well, hopefully. So, we - this is a long-term monitoring program. We actually transplant clean mussels from an aquaculture source in Puget Sound to all of our study sights. We usually have between 80 to 100 in the Puget Sound and we do that every two years, in the winter.

And, you know, we're hoping over time that we see, you know, a reduction of these chemicals in Puget Sound and, like I said, they're - most of the contamination is really localized in the near shore and the urban environments. And in the rural areas and where the aquaculture farms are, it's really clean and the mussels are looking good.

It's these urban locations that we need to keep an eye on. And we're continuing to monitor them so that, hopefully, over time we can see improvements. So, we'll just keep doing the work and we'll keep looking at those mussels.

VAUSE: Jennifer, keep doing the work because it's so badly needed because we are doing the best - the best we possibly can to destroy the planet and ruin the oceans. So, thank you and thank you for being with us. It's appreciated.

LANKSBURG: Thank you, so much. Take care.

VAUSE: I'll take a short break. When we come back, from street fighter to professional boxer, a young man turns away from London's gang violence to make a new life for himself in the ring.

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[00:40:00]

VAUSE: Well, London's gang violence, apparently, has claimed more than 60 lives this year. But now here's the good news, one young man, literally, fought his way out of those mean streets and he is now an inspiring role model. CNN's Erin McLaughlin has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ISAAC CHAMBERLAIN, BRITISH BOXER: We all want to achieve some greatness. That's the tempo and (INAUDIBLE) - that's what you saw when I'm training and when I'm in the gym or practicing, perfection, perfection.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDANT: Issac Chamberlain knows what it takes to be great.

CHAMBERLAIN: You have to move on (INAUDIBLE).

MCLAUGHLIN: Perhaps you'd never expect this kind of discipline from a kid who's story is born out of poverty and violence, the kind of gang violence now engulfing London. Authorities don't know what to do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The number of killings in the British capital has surged past 50.

MCLAUGHLIN: It's a world Chamberlain knows too well. What if boxing wasn't there for you?

CHAMBERLAIN: I honestly don't know because, obviously, there was a time when I was young when I started to stay away, you know, to - to gangs and stuff like that.

MCLAUGHLIN: But Chamberlain took a different turn, his mom Linda(ph) tells us as a kid he was often in trouble with the police.

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LINDA(ph): Once police officer came in my home and knocked the door and to me, you son is in the hospital, I was like what?

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MCLAUGHLIN: He was in the hospital, 10 years old, his face swollen from a street fight. Linda(ph) says, the police told her she needed to get her son off the streets and into something like boxing.

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MCLAUGHLIN: You would have done anything for him?

LINDA(ph): Anything.

MCLAUGHLIN: To save your son?

LINDA(ph): Yes.

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MCLAUGHLIN: She tells us boxing is his destiny.

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CHAMBERLAIN: I came into the gym and I smelt the sweat of the gym and the people punching and the smelly gloves and I just fell in love with that. The coaches at my gym, that are still here, the coaches are always saying you can be a world champion, you could do something. And I was like wow, these guys really believe in me. I never had those words of encouragement.

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MCLAUGHLIN: He takes us back to Brixton.

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CHAMBERLAIN: I use to live on that salt block right there.

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MCLAUGHLIN: Back to his childhood, to a neighborhood marred by gang war fare, many of his friends would go on to prison, or some die young.

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CHAMBERLAIN: Use to play football from this green post there, to that green post.

MCLAUGHLIN: These streets were unforgiven back then, I mean this was...

CHAMBERLAIN: Yes definitely, I remember those like a gang raid, like a drug raid for police on this block, they were like get down. Guns everywhere, there were nuts.

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MCLAUGHLIN: By the time Brixton became more gentrified, friendly even. The gang is still here.

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MCLAUGHLIN: How does it make you feel seeing what's happening in London right now?

CHAMBERLAIN: A lack of care, somebody's not doing something for our (inaudible). Got to help these kids, can you see this closed down place here?

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.

CHAMBERLAIN: I think that was it.

MCLAUGHLIN: So, this used to be a job center, now...

CHAMBERLAIN: Yes, now it's just closed down.

MCLAUGHLIN: It's closed down, does that concern you?

CHAMBERLAIN: You're closing down the thing that is trying to help all along. MCLAUGHLIN: You think they're closing down the solution?

CHAMBERLAIN: Kind of, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: The solution for Isaac was boxing, he's now a rising star. Recently he fought before over 20,000 people at London's O2 arena.

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MCLAUGHLIN: When kids see you and they see you box, what do you think they see?

CHAMBERLAIN: Someone that's not become a product of their environment, somebody's who worked hard to get to where he is and I hope I'm inspiring so many people, like that's what the kids need. So they can say yes, he's just like me. He speaks just like me, act just like me. And look where he is, you know I can do the same thing.

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MCLAUGHLIN: Erin McLaughlin, CNN's Brixton, London.

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN Newsroom live from Los Angelos, I'm John Vause, please stay with us, World Sport is up next, you're watching CNN.

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